Chapter 4
The silence was deafening, so Rajani turned the radio on, smiling at the country station. She was a country bumpkin at heart, loved everything about the genre of music, though Rajani also had other musical interests. Right now however, she was in a country mood and currently her favorite, Jason Aldean, was playing through the radio, mouthing the words while cracking her window to get some air into the vehicle. She was surprised John wasn't talking to her, but Rajani wasn't complaining, knowing he probably had a lot on his mind after what happened tonight.
John was gradually pulled from his admittedly disturbing thoughts -They involved him, Kane and a lot of weapons at his disposal such as a chain- when he realized there was background noise and it was...god awful... "What the hell is that? " He demanded, staring down at the radio like it was diseased. When John got a clipped 'Jason Aldean' he frowned, having come to the conclusion that this was Satan's favorite brand of music: country.
"If you don't like it, plug your ears with your fingers." Rajani suggested sweetly, glancing over at him briefly and stopped at a red light before reaching over and pulling John's visor down.
She tapped her chin three times before pulling out a CD, deciding she needed more Jason Aldean instead of a mixture. Popping it in, Rajani pushed the visor back up just as the light turned green and continued driving. So John didn't like country music eh? Rajani was going to use this to her full advantage. It was her way of getting some kind of retribution on him for what he did to her earlier in the night and blasted it as loud as she could stand it. Wasn't her fault if he didn't like her choice in music, maybe it would make him stop asking her out to dinner every night. Rajani could only hope that happened, especially under her circumstances. She had to figure out SOMEWAY to get him to back off before WrestleMania arrived or else everything she'd worked for these past six months was going to blow sky high.
Now this was just petty, she was doing this on purpose and thoughts of Zack and Kane were slowly being pushed aside in favor of plotting revenge. Revenge would have to wait, obviously; John wasn't about to walk back to the hotel. One, it was cold. Two, he'd wind up mugged by crazy fan girls or by haters; seriously not something he was in the mood for tonight. Gritting his teeth, John looked back out the window, really hoping this crap didn't get stuck in his head; he could imagine no worse fate. Actually, if the cosmos had a sick sense of humor, this would get stuck in his head and he'd find himself singing it later. Perfect way to cap his evening off.
"Before leaving, did Steph have an update on Zack?" John asked, already having asked Steph directly, but figured this might be a good way to distract him from the mental warfare she was playing against him.
Rajani wasn't making it easy on John to talk to her and merely shook her head in response, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel to the music. She knew John LOATHED country music, but that wasn't her problem. Though she had to figure out what else made the man tick...and fast. Even going so far as to make him hate her would suffice. It wasn't going to be an easy task, but Rajani had to at least try...and time was not on her side. Why she even agreed to give this man a ride back to the hotel in the first place was beyond her and it wouldn't happen again...ever. When they reached the hotel, John turned in his seat and smiled at her.
"Thanks for the ride, Rajani." He said sincerely, then his smile turned into his infamous smirk. "If you'd let me, I'd like to repay you...with dinner." She had to of known it was coming, it just wouldn't be normal if he didn't. "Or possibly...dessert..." His eyes roamed her hair, narrowing slightly as he considered it. "How do you wash it?"
"Excuse me?" That last question came out of left field and Rajani hadn't expected it, her dark eyes narrowing slightly at him when he gestured to her long hair. "It takes a lot of time, effort and patience." She answered in a clipped voice, cutting the ignition and opened the door to step out. "And for the millionth time, I'm not interested in dinner...or anything you have to offer, Cena." Rajani added, shutting the driver's door and opened the back one to gather her things.
Would this man ever get the hint and just leave her alone? No matter how much she may have wanted to, Rajani couldn't do anything with this man. He was not making it easy for her to turn him down either, but Rajani refused to let her willpower break.
"Doesn't it get really heavy?" John asked, easily keeping up with her.
Focusing on her was much easier, and less stressful, then the other thoughts that were currently circling. All of them threatening to overwhelm him with darkness and hatred, just like Kane wanted. He almost reached out to test just how heavy her hair actually was and then settled on visually gauging it, determining that when wet, she was probably risking snapping her neck.
"I mean, when it's wet..."
"You get used to it." John had invaded her personal space and Rajani could already feel her heart accelerating with him being this close to her. "And I really don't need you visualizing anything about me, that's just gross." Rajani shut the door after pulling her bag over her shoulder along with her purse, pressing the remote on her keys to lock the vehicle. "Good evening, Mr. Cena."
Turning, Rajani started for the hotel, needing to put distance between her and John before something happened she'd definitely regret. How the hell did she even know he was visualizing anything? It wasn't like he had come out and said 'Yo, I wanna touch your hair, but you might rearrange my genitals, so I'm going to imagine it instead'. Frowning, John followed her towards the door and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder stopping her. He then let go and backed up a couple of steps, just in case.
"Other than my constant asking you out, is there any other reason why you don't like me, Rajani?" He demanded, his mood doing a 180 again.
Rajani had tensed up the moment he touched her, feeling her shoulder turn to liquid fire and slowly rush down her arm. "If you know what's good for you, John," She paused, her voice neutral instead of sugary sweet like normal. "You will stay away from me and just leave me alone."
Maybe simply telling him flat out to leave her alone would work, but Rajani highly doubted it. If anything, it would only pique John's interest, which was the last thing she wanted to do. Shaking his head, he hoisted his bag back up onto his shoulder, looking up at the night sky for a moment before back at her.
"Highly unlikely." John said flatly, arching an eyebrow at the look on her face, which seemed mostly indifferent. "You never answered me." He reminded, not really expecting her too and started towards the building. "Have a good night, Rajani."
"Yes I did, you just don't listen. Night." Rajani remarked coolly.
Shaking her head, Rajani watched him walk inside the building before doing the same thing. She didn't want to follow him right away, using the cool night air to calm her racing heart and body temperature. Sighing when her cell phone rang, Rajani flipped it open, pressing it to her ear.
"You're very persistent, you know that?"
"Maybe if you'd answer your phone and texts, I wouldn't have to bug you, Raj."
"Funny." She snorted, heading inside the building. "What do you want? I've had a long night and want to go to bed."
"Just letting you know your dear big brother is joining up with you sooner than expected."
That stopped Rajani dead in her tracks, dark eyes wide. "How soon?" She tried keeping calm, but it was extremely hard to do.
He smirked, feeling his sister's tension through the phone. "In a week."
THAT was not good.
Why hadn't he caught it sooner? It was right there in front of his face and he had been focusing on the wrong woman. Granted, Eve was only Ryder's kayfabe girlfriend, but he had thought there was a spark between her and Cena, which worked out quite well for him, until now. He had also known that Cena and Ryder were actual friends off-screen as well as on, hence the...additional rough treatment. Now Kane had a new target and she was quite the delicious one if he did say so himself.
After a quick shower, Rajani lay in her hotel room staring at the ceiling, unable to get any sleep. How the hell could she with these new turn of events? Her brother was coming on the road with the company sooner than she wanted, which meant she was more than likely out of time. This was going to be one colossal disaster, Rajani simply knew it. Standing up from bed, she walked over to stare out the window and suddenly stepped out on her balcony, needing some fresh air.
"I am so fucked..."
Kane watched Rajani from his own balcony, two floors down and across the courtyard. He was fresh out of the shower, wearing nothing except a towel wrapped around his waist, contemplating his next course of action. From where he was, it looked like Rajani was having a sleepless night and he wondered how often that occurred. Well, that didn't matter, he knew how many sleepless nights were coming up.
A grueling 6 hour drive later and Rajani was in the next city, ready to start another day, running on only an hour of sleep with a load of coffee. She met up with Beth for a late lunch and then headed to the arena, always arriving early like Stephanie did. This was the Smackdown! taping that happened every Tuesday, so it was once again going to be a hectic night. Smackdown! and Raw were separate brand shows, but Raw had recently changed into being called a Supershow. That meant all the Superstars from BOTH rosters were allowed to compete on it...and to extend feuds. Pulling into the underground parking garage, Rajani couldn't help wondering what was in store for them tonight before stepping out, heading inside.
"Ryder won't be back for two weeks, John." Stephanie said the moment John stepped into her office, not surprised to find him here this early.
John had always been one to arrive early. Even now with his bi-polar mood swings, he was still one of the earliest to arrive. She already knew what he would ask about Zack's condition.
"He's suffered a broken collarbone, severely bruised ribs and the obvious concussion."
"I want Kane."
"I'm sure you do."
Knocking once on the door, Rajani stepped inside and stopped at the sight of John Cena, knowing she had just walked into a rather heated conversation between him and the boss. "Oh, didn't realize someone was in here. Stephanie, the vendors are here waiting for their payments. Should I cut the checks for you while you finish up with Mr. Cena?" Rajani avoided eye contact with John, smiling when Stephanie merely handed over the company checkbook.
"Thank you, Rajani. Also on your way back, please stop and get me some coffee."
"Of course." She nodded once and bowed out of the office, heading down the hallway to run her errands.
"So...you're more worried about your damn gopher getting you coffee than Kane? Which even I can see is a total waste of her talents; get her a personal assistant of her own to handle that bullshit." John demanded, blue eyes flashing angrily. "You know as well as I do that Kane is going to do something tonight and I want him before he-"
"You work for me John, not the other way around." Stephanie said coldly, standing up and bracing her hands on the desk, leaning towards him. "And you are this close to finding your ass on the first flight back home where you are very likely to remain until after WrestleMania, got me Cena?"
His eyes were nothing but icy slits at this point. "Yeah." He said finally. "Yeah, I got you."
After cutting 3 checks for amounts of money that made Rajani's head slightly spin, she headed to get Stephanie and herself some coffee. She was Stephanie's assistant and did whatever she was told...within reason. Rajani did have standards and given who her big brother was, she knew the McMahon princess wouldn't overstep boundaries. Rajani had that much power at least, which wasn't much because nobody knew who she was related to. She hoped when big brother came on the road he would keep it that way or else she would probably end up forfeiting her internship with the company. Her deep thoughts suddenly crashed when Rajani turned the corner and smacked right into a brick wall...or so she thought...and landed flat on her ass, grunting.
Kane regarded the woman who was now sitting in a rather ungainly position in front of him and grunted, bending down to look in her face. Not saying a word, he reached out and gripped Rajani by the waist and pulled her upright onto her feet. "You should really watch where you're going, Rajani." He said in his low, dark voice. "You might run into the...wrong person next time."
"S-Sorry Mr. Jac-I mean Kane." Rajani corrected, knowing the man loathed being called by his birth name for whatever reason.
Her chest felt like it was going to cave in and Rajani knew she would have several bruises. She'd been walking rather fast when she rounded the corner. These deep thought sessions had to end because Kane had a point...she would end up running into someone who wouldn't take it line down.
"Have a...good night." She quickly walked around him, never taking her guarded eyes away and hauled ass down the hall away from him as fast as she could, rubbing her sore chest. "Damn that hurt..."
Kane, despite his size, was a very quiet man for his rather large size. He followed Rajani, watching as she rubbed her chest. He had, obviously, felt how hard she had walked right into him, it just didn't bother him because he was conditioned to take bumps and bruises. To him, her colliding into him the way she had didn't qualify as either a bump or a bruise.
"You should go see the trainer." He suggested from behind, hiding a smile when she jumped, though his amusement showed in his eyes, already wearing his contact.
"I'm fine, nothing they can really do for bruising."
Rajani didn't like the fact Kane/Glen was following her, finally stopping. She slowly turned to face him, not surprised when he stopped with her. This felt like stalking and Rajani suddenly felt her hair standing on ends, leaning back against the wall.
"I'm still walking and talking without trouble, I'm fine." She insisted, staring at him with a raised eyebrow and wondered if he would keep following her until she did go see the trainer.
"Well if you insist." Kane said, uncertainty inflecting his tone. "I'll go let Stephanie know about it however, just in case."
Because Stephanie would make her go see the trainer and probably also throw in a lecture about her being more careful backstage with the guys or she'd get ran down. It was a simple fact that all women had to abide by because there were just some cocksuckers, like him, in this company that didn't care who they mowed down. Not exactly something an intern really wanted to be told when it was pretty much palpable in this business.
"Whatever makes you feel better."
Rajani walked away from him, already knowing Stephanie would be giving her a third degree about keeping injuries secret. She would have to fill out a worker's comp sheet, even though Rajani would never sue the WWE. There was too much family history involved when it came to this business and, more importantly, this particular company.
"Christ on a bike..." Rajani muttered, walking into the cafeteria and stood in line for coffee behind Randy Orton.
As if Kane would say anything to Stephanie, rather finding the little gopher amusing and idly wondered if she would be bruised. He could just imagine what parts of Rajani would be bruised and didn't have to imagine very hard how said body parts would look...black, blue, and then a lovely shade of purple. Smirking slightly, he continued on his way. Kane had been right, this was going to be fun; he was already tingling with anticipation.